Political Quotes

“I am basically supportive of it. The first is something which the President has vetoed, the stem cell research legislation. Back in August of 2001, he signed an order which allowed 21 different stem cell lines to be developed. There was a lot of discussion that in this particular bill that we could have actually updated that date from 2001 until 2007. There have been 400 private lines developed since that time; that is, without any Federal dollars whatsoever. They could have been used for research by anybody if indeed we could have had it approved in this legislation. As a result of that, I drafted an amendment to do just that. But I have been informed that it will not be in order if I were to present it, so I will not present it. I think this is a missed opportunity. I say to the chairman, because he was supportive of the stem cell research, that my judgment is we should do everything in our power to be able to enhance and to further that research in America. This was an opportunity which is unfortunately lost.”